


CSSV: The Bagel Feud

by poor_dumb_killian



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-14
Updated: 2015-02-14
Packaged: 2018-03-12 07:36:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3348971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poor_dumb_killian/pseuds/poor_dumb_killian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emma Swan is a creature of habit, but what happens when her morning routine is thrown off by a bagel thief by the name of Killian Jones?</p>
            </blockquote>





	CSSV: The Bagel Feud

**Author's Note:**

> Based of this prompt: someone keeps buying the last everything bagel at my favorite coffee shop 2 minutes before i get there in the morning and has heard about my plight and has started leaving me bragging notes about it
> 
> This is my CSSV gift for my Valentine Starchiee! It is unbeta'd, so please excuse any errors. There is some mild cursing in the latter part of the fic, but otherwise audience friendly.

Not a lot has changed in Emma Swan’s life over the last year. She wakes up at 6am, takes a short run, showers, primps the least amount she can get away with for her business casual attire, slips on a pencil skirt and blouse and heads down to her favorite little bagel shop for her morning necessities: a chai latte with a shot of espresso and a scrumptious everything bagel.

She is a creature of habit.

So imagine her absolute  _horror_  on this particularly awful Monday morning, when she arrived at the bagel shop and heard the following from the barista, Ruby:

_“I’m so sorry Emma! A charming gentleman just bought the last everything about 5 minutes ago.”_

She woke up late, had to skip her run, doesnt even want to know what she looks like in her rush to get out the door… and now this? It’s Mondays like this that it seems like a smarter idea to go back to bed and let the week slip by without her presence. Clearly, nothing good was going to come from staying awake.

She grumbled and (reluctantly) accepted a sesame bagel in place of her precious, standard morning fuel. 

* * *

 

Emma got home Monday night after a day that only got worse. She spilled her latte on her blouse upon arriving to work, had a particularly obnoxious phone call as her first conversation of the day and proceeded to get yelled at by her boss for something that was her co-worker’s doing.

She took a nice long bath, hoping to cleanse the bad day from her memory and start fresh on Tuesday. She awoke right on time, and went about her morning routine as per usual. She was patting herself on the back for shaking the Monday funk from her attitude as she walked into the bagel shop ready for her favorite breakfast.

Ruby turned and saw Emma, and her face fell -  _shit_  -  “Oh no Emma! He beat you to it again. You just missed him, couldnt have been more than five minutes ago.”

“Seriously?”

“Yea, Im sorry. I know it’s your favorite. But I cant not sell it, that’s kind of against the point of my job.”

“You know Im going to come, cant you just set it aside?”

“You know Granny would have my head if she found a bagel set aside. The old woman is going to give herself a heart attack one day over her need for order.”

With a heavy sigh and a very adolescent sounding “ _fine_ ” Emma accepted her latte and an onion bagel before making her way to the office.

* * *

 

Wednesday morning she decided to set her alarm for ten minutes earlier; hoping to get a jump in the day and beat the bagel thief to her everything bagel.

She breezed through her morning routine and arrive early - just as she planned - only to see Ruby’s expression turn to a cringe once again.

“Do  _not_  tell me it happened again,” Emma said, maybe a bit too short.

“He literally just left a minute ago.”

“Come on Ruby, Im even here early!”

“I know you are, and I may have mentioned to him that I have a regular customer who has been very upset the last two mornings that he took her favorite bagel… and he may have left you a note,” she said while pulling out a piece of paper covered with neat handwriting in black ink.

“Ruby, why on earth would you do that?”

“I dont know, he has these crazy, blue eyes and dark, disheveled hair… not to mention this charming demeanor that kind of makes me go dumb when he’s around,” she said with a shrug and a glazed over, whimsical look on her face.

Emma couldnt suppress the eyeroll as Ruby handed the note over.

> _To: the fair maiden who will go without her favorite bagel for the third day in a row_
> 
> _Alas, while it loathes me to leave a woman in distress, I am afraid my desire for a delectable everything bagel outweighs my belief in “good form.” Might I suggest getting in a bit earlier tomorrow if you expect to beat me to the last one._
> 
> _Yours Truly, The Bagel Thief_

She gritted her teeth, crumpled the note, and decided to forgo the bagel altogether this morning.

* * *

 

Killian just couldnt help himself when he decided to leave the note. He also couldnt help his ridiculous competitive streak that forces him out of bed 15 minutes early on Thursday morning.

He will not lose his favorite bagel to the blonde woman Ruby told him about.

So, as he had done all week after moving into his new apartment over the weekend, he got up and readied himself before heading down to the bagel shop right around the corner.

He pushed his way into the shop, “Good morning, Ruby. How are you this morning?”

She smirked, “You’re early.”

He returned her smirk and said, “Ill have a large coffee, black, and that last everything bagel, please.”

“She may actually kill me this morning when she arrives. Wont you feel bad when you hear about my murder on the evening news?”

“Hmm, maybe you should describe the woman in question to me so I can give the police a proper suspect description when they find your body,” he added a wink for good measure.

Ruby rolled her eyes and she handed him his order, “Nice try, but she was already mad enough at me for even mentioning her at all. Please dont tell me you intend to leave another note.”

“Did she not leave a response to yesterday’s note?”

Ruby chuckled, “No, she looked like she was going to hit the next person that crossed her path before crumpling the note and leaving without a bagel.”

Killian couldnt help the laugh that escaped him as he pulled out a piece of paper and started scribbling his note, “Ruby, please add the cost of another bagel onto my order, Id like to buy her her second choice bagel today.”

She grinned, “So you will be attending my funeral then?”

“Wouldnt miss it for the world, love.”

He left the shop, but decided to sit across the street in the park to watch for a blonde woman to enter the shop. He woke up early, after all, and had plenty of spare time.

It only took a couple of minutes for a tall woman with golden, blonde hair to speed walk into the shop. She had high cheekbones, porcelain skin and legs that went on for miles in her tight, grey pencil skirt.

He was woefully unprepared for how beautiful she was.

He found her even more beautiful huffing out in anger upon slamming her way out of the shop two minutes later…

Without a bagel in her hand.

* * *

 

She woke up twenty-five minutes early on Thursday. After the asshole left her that note she was not playing games anymore.

She rushed through her routine and made it to the bagel shop in record time, speed walking the whole way there.

She pulled open the door with a feeling of triumph, there was no way he beat her this morning. Nope. None at all.

Then she saw Ruby cringe -  _again_  - “Sorry Ems, he just left a minute ago. He left this.”

She held up another note and this time, at least, she looked less chipper about the whole thing.

Emma snatched the note out of her hand without saying a word to Ruby.

> _To: The lover of everything bagels_
> 
> _It appears I have beaten you to the punch once again. It seems you are always one step behind._
> 
> _Nevertheless, my good form does come into play upon hearing a fair maiden went without her morning sustenance yesterday and cannot allow it to happen a second time. So, in a show of good faith, I have already paid for your second choice bagel this morning._
> 
> _No hard feelings, you have my word the everything bagel was thoroughly enjoyed._
> 
> _Yours Truly, The Bagel Thief_

Red - that’s all Emma could see now. Who does this asshole think he is? Like she needed some prick to buy her a bagel!

Ruby had her latte ready by the time she finished reading his note, “What bagel do you want this morning?”

She crunched the note into a tiny ball and gritted her teeth, “None,” it really came out as more of a growl than anything, “You can tell that asshole to take his bagel and shove it -“

Ruby cut her off before she could finish, “Woah, alrighty then Ems. I will pass along your message to Mr. Blue Eyes.”

Emma left in a huff. She will  _not_  lose tomorrow.

* * *

 

An hour early, on a Friday morning, this is what her life has come to.

She pushed through the doors into the bagel shop a full hour early, with triumph in her step.

“Wow, Ems, you are SUPER early. That competitive streak in you is impressive,” Ruby says with a broad smile on her face.

“ _Please_  tell me he didnt beat me. If he beat me, I swear…”

“Dont worry, you definitely beat him,” she said with a smirk.

“Great! Then I will take my chai latte and everything bagel, and do you happen to have a piece of paper I can use?”

She scribbled down a triumphant note, and took her morning order from Ruby before leaving the bagel shop and settling down in the park across the street.

She told herself she sat down because it is a beautiful, Summer morning in the city (and she clearly has some spare time this morning)… it had absolutely nothing to do with the chance to catch a peek at the bagel thief leaving without his (her) precious everything bagel.

She kept an eye out for a man with dark hair and “crazy blue eyes,” as Ruby had so eloquently put it. She wasnt waiting more than 10 minutes before she saw a tall man, with deliciously disheveled, dark hair enter the shop. Even from across the street she could see how blue his eyes were.

A few minutes later Mr tall, dark and handsome left the shop with a sesame bagel in one and and her note and his coffee in his other.

He was smiling happily to himself, which just proved to irritated Emma further.

* * *

 

From the fire in that beautiful blonde’s eyes yesterday he could tell she was determined to beat him. Never one to back down in a competition, Killian decided to get out of bed 45 minutes early Friday morning.

He strolled into the bagel shop and Ruby gave him a smirk that set him on edge, “Good morning, Ruby. Im glad to see you survived yesterday’s lack of everything bagels”

“She beat you to it,” is all she said while she pulled a folded note from her apron and handed it over.

He couldnt help the smile that crept over his face while he read:

> _Dear Bagel Thief,_
> 
> _Unfortunately for you, you underestimated my competitive side. It appears that your streak has ended at 4 days._
> 
> _This morning’s bagel will taste extra delicious, as it was paid for by you._
> 
> _Sincerely, the woman currently eating a tasty everything bagel_

He chuckled as he looked up at Ruby, “She’s feisty. I guess I have no choice but to settle for a sesame bagel please, love.”

He exited the bagel shop with lots of time left before he had to be to work, and decided to go visit the park again to sit and enjoy his breakfast.

He was lost in thought as he wandered across the street. So lost, in fact, that he didnt notice the very blonde he was thinking about sitting at the very bench he was approaching.

* * *

 

_Shit, shit, shit, shit_  - is all that’s streaming through her mind as he made his way across the street… directly towards her.

He doesnt know what she looks like -  _at least she hopes not_  - and she just finished her bagel, so there’s no way he could put two and two together and figure it out -  _right?_

He hadnt even noticed her yet, maybe if she got up she could slip away. 

She stood quickly, but all that managed to do was draw his attention to her. Their eyes met and any hope that he didnt know who she was slipped right out the window. He stopped mid-step, his eyes went comically wide for a brief moment, and then a slow smirk spread out across his face while his eyebrows rose impossibly high.

“Well, well… leaving the scene of the crime, love?”

“Not your love,” suddenly slipped out of her mouth without thinking. His smirk grew even wider.

“Maybe you would prefer…” he looked at her letter currently grasped in his left hand, “the woman who just finished off a tasty everything bagel?”

“Listen buddy…”

“Killian, Killian Jones” he interrupted while using his full hands to gesture to himself.

“As I was saying,” man this guy was on her last nerve, “You are the one that started this little war. I have been getting the same bagel every morning for the last year.”

“So, what youre saying is, you want to go by standard playground rules: you were here first, and therefore the bagel is automatically yours?”

His smirk hadnt left his face, and she couldnt decide whether she wanted to slap it off his face or kiss it off… because the man was devastatingly beautiful, but so incredibly infuriating.

* * *

 

Killian knew he was playing with fire, he could see the flames whipping around in the absolutely  _gorgeous_  green eyes of the woman standing before him.

“What Im saying is, I didnt ask for you to start stealing my usual breakfast. I didnt ask for you to screw up my whole routine all week!”

“To be fair love, I didnt intentionally screw up your routine Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday and today were both ruined by your own competitiveness.”

“I am not your love.”

“Well, you didnt give me your name when I introduced myself, I have nothing else to call you.”

“Im not giving you my name, Jones.”

“Shoot yourself,  _darling_ ,” he made sure to really enunciate the final word. He couldnt help but push her buttons. She’s just so bloody beautiful when she’s seething mad.

She growled out in frustration and wildly flung her hands the the air and stomping her foot like a petulant child, “God, you are so fucking frustrating!”

Killian thought to further goad her on, but decided the lass had probably had enough; and to be truthful, he’d like nothing more than to take her on a date. That certainly wasnt going to happen unless he could repair any damage cause. 

So, he figured instead he would try for a truce, “Look, lo-” she glared at him and he stopped himself from finishing the word. He sighed and started over, “Look, I honestly didnt mean to turn your whole world upside-down. I’m sorry if I have played a part in making this week more difficult for you. It was not my intention, and I apologize.”

He tried to keep still under her scrutiny, she was clearly searching his face for something, and she seemed to find whatever it was she was looking for. She sighed heavily and rubbed at her temples with her eyes closed and her nose scrunched up in an adorable way. Then, she dropped her hands and looked up to the sky, before finally saying, “Emma.”

He was ready for more hate so he was slightly caught off guard, “Im sorry?”

“My name is Emma, Emma Swan.”

* * *

 

The smile that broke across his face was truly devastating. You’d think she just handed him the sun all wrapped with a pretty bow he was so happy.

_Shit, giving him my name was a mistake_  - she thought.

“You have a beautiful name,  _Emma_.”

The way his tongue wrapped around her name was even more devastating then the smile he just gave her.

She was woefully unprepared for her Friday morning to turn into this.

She could feel the heat climb up her cheeks and knew she must be blushing, so she quickly tried to deflect the conversation, “I may have started off with an already bad Monday this week that was only exasperated by my favorite bagel being sold out and just snowballed into an awful week.” She took another deep breath, preparing for what she was about to do ( _she hates apologizing_ ), “So, I apologize for, maybe, you know, being a bit over-flustered this morning.”

“Apology accepted, Swan! No harm done,” he winked ( _Jesus he should NOT be allowed to wink_ ), “How about we make an official truce?”

“What did you have in mind?”

“You get the last everything bagel on Monday, Wednesday and Friday… and I get it on Tuesday and Thursday. But there’s a catch…”

She groaned -  _of course there’s a catch_  - “Just spit it out, Jones.”

“I take you out to dinner tomorrow night.”

“I dont date.”

“Now that is a national tragedy.” He traced a path across his lower lip with his tongue that her eyes were helpless to follow (and he noticed -  _damn it_ ), “Free dinner is a small price to pay for a truce and your bagel more than half the week; wouldnt you say Swan?”

“You’re incorrigible,” she said with an eyeroll.

“I prefer dashing,” he wiggled his eyebrows and tilted his head to the side ( _like a damned puppy - god why does he have to be so infuriatingly attractive_ ), “What do you say, Swan? Dinner? Ill meet you here at seven; so you dont have to divulge your address.”

“Ugh, fine,” she finally concedes with another eyeroll. The look on his face is one of pure joy.

He set his drink down on the bench and reached his right hand out to her, “It’s not an official truce until we shake on it, Swan.”

She grasped his hand with hers and tried to ignore the spark that shot down her spine at the skin-to-skin contact. Before she could pull her hand away, he raised it up to his lips and kissed the back of it gently - never breaking eye contact. Her traitorous body shivered at the contact of his lips under his intense gaze.

“Until tomorrow night, Swan. And dont skip out on me, or I will ensure you never get an everything bagel ever again.”

He winked one last time before dropping her hand and picking his coffee back up, “Have a good day,  _love_.”

She was in big trouble.

* * *

 

Monday morning she met Killian at the bagel shop and they shared the everything bagel. Ruby eventually talked granny into letting her set two aside for them every day.

Years later and it is still all of their friend’s favorite story: the bagel-feud that started it all.

* * *

 


End file.
